Tractor attachment



Aug. 5, 1924. 1,503,620

1..- s.. ZESBAUGH TRACTOR ATTACHMENT Filed max-11 1 0, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 1 II I a ll w H II II II II II {EE Illlil II II II II IIlilllllll ll Il'll H II v INVENTOR [awrencei Zcsbauglz rs ATTORNEYS Aug;5 {1924- 1.. e. ZESBAUGH TRACTOR ATTACHMENT Filed April 10, 1922 2Sheets$heet 2 /N VEN TOR awrence 5. Zesbauflz M l5 ATTORNEYS Passed113.5, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT oF ic-E.

LAWRENCE G. znsneuenfor mmmaronrs, mmnnsern.

macros arracnmnnr.

Application filed April 10, 1922. Serial no. 550,965.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE G. Zesnauen, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Minneapolis in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TractorAttachments, of which the following ls a specification.

y invention relates to tractor attachments, and an object is to providea device of the creeper type in which chain tractor belts running oversprocket drive wheels and idler wheels causethe tractor to be propelled.

- The full objects and advantages of my in vention will appearinconnectlon with the detailed description, and the novel features vdriving and at places between the and the rear axle.

' from the housin embodied in my inventive idea will be particularlypointed out in the claims. In the accompanying drawin lustrate one oftheforms inw ich my invention may be embodied, Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview of my device applied to a tractor. Fig. 2 is a rear view of thedevice with certain parts broken away or removed. Fig. 3 is a top planview of the device, Fig.

4 1s a view 1n section on the line.44 of which ilfieferring to theconstruction shown in the drawings, the numeral 10 designates in generala tractor which may be of well known construction and which is providedwith front steering wheels 12 and a rear s'up orting axle 14 mounted inhousings 16. inged to lugs 18 on these housings are rearwardly extendingcastings 20 which toward their rear ends are provided with hollowcylindrical members 22 within which is secured a shaft 24. Angle bars 26are positioned below the casting 20v and are attached at their frontends to the tractor front steering wheels The intermediate portions ofthese bars are provided with lugs 28 which are attached to lugs 30depending 16. Securedupon the two ends of the she 24 arebell crankmembers 32 having forwardly extending arms'34. Bolts 36 extend throughthe free endsof these arms and on the castings 20 and these bolts areprovided with adjusting nuts 37 by means of which the traction chain mabe tensioned. The bell crank members 32 a so have downwardly extendingarms 40 at the lower ends which are hollow cylindrical members throughlugs 38 positioned held on the upper ends of the bolts by locknuts. Thesprings 48 are normally under compression and the idler wheels 44 willtherefore be held downwardly by a pressure which may be varied by meansof the lock nuts. Mounted upon the driving shaft 14 in place of thecustomary driving wheels are double flanged sprocket wheels 52. Chaintraction belts such as disclosed in my prior Patent Number 1,261,989dated April 9, 1918, pass around the sprocket wheels 52 and the idlerwheels 44. Thesechain belts are so constructed that the lower stretchthereof may be flexed downwardly but cannot be flexed upwardly out of astraight line, The cen-' ter lugs 56 of the chain belts are-receivedbetween the flanges of the idler wheels 44 while the drive elements 58of the belts are engaged by the teeth of the double flange sprocketwheels 52. The idler wheels 44 are preferably mounted only acomparatively short distance at the rear of the drive. wheels and extendbetween the double flanges of the latter. In this manner the chaintraction belts may be made considerably shorter than would otherwise bethe case.

The operation and advantages of my invention will now be apparent. Onaccount of the fact that a resilient downward pressure is maintained onthe idler wheels, additional weight is thrown on the front steeringwheels, the idler wheels can readily follow the contour of the ground,and downward pressure on the chain traction belts keeps them firmly uponthe ground, thereby not only preventing. slippage but relieving theweight 6n the sprocket drive wheels. The chain traction belts will beeffectively driven on account of the drive elements or in housings 58being engaged by the teet of the double -flanged drive wheels, Thetraction belts will be guided upon the idler wheels on acount of thecenter lugs 56 being received between the flanges of these wheels. v

has been used in its broad included in the fundamental design forcreeper type tractor.

I clann:

1. In a tractor having front steering wheels and a rear driving axle,the combination of sprocket drive wheels mounted on said axle,rearwardly extending castings hinged to the housings of cured to saidcastings, v to the tractor and extending beneath said castings,downwardly extending members secured to the ends of said shaft, idlerwheels mounted on said members, bolts attaohed to the rear of saidbars-and extend-.

ing slidably through the rear of said'castin s,'co1lars carried by theupper ends of said-bolts, springs interposed between said collars andsaid castings, and chain traction belts passing around said drive wheelsand;

said idler wheels.

2. In a tractor having front steering wheels and a rear driving axle,thecombinasaid axle, a shaft se-' bars attached tion .of sprocket drivewheels mounted on said axle, rearwardly extending castings hinged to thehousings of said axle, a shaft secured to said castings, bars attachedto the tractor and extending beneath said castings. bell crank memberssecured to the ends of said shaft, said members having forwardlyextending arms, means for adjnstably securing said arms to saidcastings, said members also having downwardly extending arms, idlerwheels mounted on said downwardly extending arms, bolts attached to therear of said bars and extending slidahly through carried by the upperends of said bolts. springs interposed between said collars and saidcastings, and chain traction 'belts passing around said drive wheels andsaid idler wheels.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature. 5

LAWRENCE G. ZESBAUGH.

the rear of said castings, collars"

